But once again, the Reds made things a little more difficult than they needed to be by allowing a goal in the first five minutes.

“I don’t really know what happened, we need to do a better job of coming out for games,” defender Logan Emory told MLSsoccer.com by phone after the game. “We didn’t come out with a lot of energy for whatever reason. We can’t give them a head start like that.”

HIGHLIGHTS: DAL vs TOR

It was something to reflect on for a team that is starting to build confidence under new head coach Paul Mariner. The Reds are 1-1-4 since he took over from Aron Winter on June 7.

Toronto are in the midst of a busy schedule with another game scheduled for Sunday at Philadelphia, but Emory is not certain that fixture congestion is a factor.

“Maybe if it was at the end of the game, that might be the cause,” he said.

Toronto had a similar problem with a slow start last Saturday against the New York Red Bulls at BMO Field, conceding a goal four minutes into the game. Danny Koevermans answered a couple of minutes later and that one finished 1-1 as well.

The red-hot Koevermans got Wednesday’s early goal back in the 31st minute and now has six goals in his past five games for a total of nine on the season.